Marching On
by potterwatch97
Summary: "You are blaming yourself for everything. Not just the battle a few days ago; you're blaming yourself for the the whole effing war." Song-fic "We're Marching On" by OneRepublic. Slight swearing.


A/N: I'm not really very happy with how this turned out... It felt very repetitive and not as deep as some of my other work. Of course I was having one of those author moments when you leave the story and you come back to it and you think 'What the hell was I thinking?' Please R&R. I'd really like to get some feedback on this one, just cause I'm not as confident with this one as I have been in the past.

In other news, I'll start updating on HPCF some time in January, so if you read it or you're interested in reading it, be on the look out for that. Chapters 1-5 are already posted on my profile. :)

And a big thank you to Craz4writing for being a great beta. I've had this story since September, that's how long I had been looking for a beta: she is a life saver :)

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><p>"We are here today to celebrate the lives lost on May 2, 1998 in a heroic last stance in the final battle against evil that took place on these grounds just three days ago..."<p>

It was a beautiful day, the weather seemingly mocking the feelings of those gathered on the grounds of Hogwarts under the beech tree. The giant squid was swimming lazily across the Great Lake's water. Not a cloud was in the sky and there was light breeze flowing through the air.

_For those days we felt like a mistake  
>Those times when love's what you hate<br>Somehow... we keep marching on_

Harry Potter sat in the front row with Ginny Weasley and the rest of her family. He sat quietly, stroking the hair of his crying girlfriend, watching the speaker, listening to him talk without really hearing what he was saying.

"I'm sure many of us here today are sitting here thinking, _'Why them?', 'Why couldn't I save them?_' Or even possibly _'Why couldn't it have been me instead?_'..."

_For those days when I couldn't be there  
>I've made it harder to know that you know<br>That somehow  
>We'll keep moving on<em>

Yes, that _was_ what Harry was thinking. It was all his fault. If he had been able to find the horcruxes sooner, if he hadn't spent so much time obsessing over the Hallows and just focused on the task Dumbledore had laid out and asked for him to finish, maybe Fred would still be here. Or even Colin, or Remus, or Tonks...

_There's so many wars we fought  
>There's so many things we're not<br>But with what we have, I promise you that  
>We're marching on<br>We're marching on  
>We're marching on<em>

"But we mustn't think these things. As much as we would like to take the blame, it was no one's fault but one man: Voldemort. Because of Voldemort, the young people of the generation were forced to fight a war that we as adults were too afraid to fight. Because of Voldemort, we were afraid for our families, our friends, our loved ones. We didn't want anyone to get hurt, and because of that, these young people, many of them who are here today, some who are, sadly, no longer with us, were forced to do the things we, the people who were supposed to protect them, didn't want to do. So it's natural to want to take all the blame for ourselves, correct?"

"But we have to remember, these people here, they weren't fighting for us. They were fighting for their own futures. They knew how things would change for the better if the war ended. We, the adults of their lives, were so worried about the now, that they didn't take the time to think about what the young people of today had to give tomorrow. These kids understood that their future was something worth fighting for, that they weren't going to let one power hungry man control their lives. They were going to fight for the future they deserve, and if they died in the process, they died for their friends, and their siblings and they died so that all of their generationcould get the future that those who died will never have the pleasure of experiencing themselves."

_For all of the plans we made  
>There isn't a flag I'd wave<br>Don't care if we bend, I'd sink us to swim  
>We're marching on<br>We're marching on  
>We're marching on<em>

"These students, members of the Defense group Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, the teachers of Hogwarts, and so many more gave so much so they could live the way they wanted. And they succeeded. Because of these people, and one person in particular, we are now able to say "_we're free." _Free from the pain and suffering of a mad man and his followers, free from the fear of there being no tomorrow, and free to live life the way we want to. And all thanks to them.

"They were able to push through the barriers to give us the thing we were all fighting for: Freedom. And because of them, we have it now.

_For all those doubts that swirl around us  
>For those lives that tear at the seams<br>We know  
>We're not what we've seen<em>

"And because they knew what they were fighting for, they knew that this was a cause they felt they could die for, do you really think they would be happy to know that we were sitting here blaming ourselves for their deaths? I know for a fact that my friends, Remus Lupin, and his wife Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin would come back as ghosts, just so they could kick the arses of the people who were blaming themselves."

The man looked right at Harry as he talked, as if he could sense Harry blaming himself from where he sat. Harry looked at his knees to avoid looking anyone in the eyes. He understood that these people were fighting for the future, that they were fighting their own battles while Harry fought his, but the end of their suffering still depended on Harry completing the tasks that had been set for him, and they hadn't been able to depend on him as they should have been. It was his job to kill Voldemort and end it all, and he hadn't been quick enough.

_For this dance we'll move with each other  
>There ain't no other step than one foot<br>Right in front of the other_

"We could keep asking questions. _What if_ I had done this? _What if_ I had said this? _What if_ I had saved them? We can't save them all. And like I said before, they knew what they were doing, they understood that they might die, but they did it anyway, for a better future. It was their own choice, not anyone else's. And if fate felt that they had done all they could do and it was time to move on the next great adventure, then there was nothing anyone could've done to stop it."

_There's so many wars we fought  
>There's so many things we're not<br>But with what we have, I promise you that  
>We're marching on<br>We're marching on  
>We're marching on<em>

Harry could feel tears prickling in his eyes, and he tried desperately not to cry. He felt a hand grab his left, and another his right, and realized that Ginny had stopped crying and taken his hand, looking at him with that determined look that he loved so much that clearly stated, _Stop blaming yourself, it's not your fault._ If only it were that easy.

Looking to his left he noticed that George had moved his chair next to his, and was tightly squeezing his hand, still staring at Kingsley giving his speech.

"I know what you're doing," George said quietly, "and you need to stop."

_For all of the plans we've made  
>There isn't a flag I'd wave<br>Don't care if we bend, I sink us to swim  
>We're marching on<br>We're marching on  
>We're marching on<em>

"What are you talking about?" They kept watching Kingsley, not really paying attention to what was being said, but trying to be respectful and seem like they were listening.

"You're blaming yourself, and I know for a fact that it's not just for F-Fred, Remus, Tonks, or Colin. _You_ are blaming yourself for _everything_. The deaths, the destruction of Hogwarts, the injuries, the pain and suffering of everyone who lost someone, and not just at the battle a few days ago, you're blaming yourself for _the war._ And you need to stop."

"Why? It is my fault. My parents died because of a prophecy. Cedric died just because he was _there_. Sirius died because I was dumb enough to fall for Voldemort's trap, Dumbledore died because he was helping me, and everyone else died because I was too distracted to figure this shite out before anyone else could get hurt. It _is_ my fault. Why is everyone telling me it's not?"

"Because believe it or not Harry, not everything in this war is about you," George said a little harshly.

"Sure, you may have been stuck in the middle of it before you were even born, but that doesn't mean _you_ are the only one who is important."

"I'm not saying that-"

"You might as well be!" George whispered exasperatedly gripping Harry's hand tighter, causing Harry's hand to shake. "That speech you just gave me seemed like a pretty selfish thing to say, especially from someone who's famous for being so brave and selfless. Did you even listen to what that guy before Kingsley was talking about?"

"I caught... pieces... of it."

"Well, then I'll sum it up for you, shall I?" He turned to face Harry, and Harry looked right back into his eyes, shocked at seeing the most serious expression he'd ever seen on George's face. _"Stop. Blaming. Yourself._ It's no one's fault but Voldemort, you got rid of that threat. You did what you had to do. So grieve and move on, but if you don't, that's okay, because I'll enjoy seeing Fred, Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and everyone come back and kick your arse for blaming yourself for something that you couldn't stop. It's over now, Harry. It's time to move on." And with that George got back up and moved over to his place beside his mother, taking her hand and going back to listening to Kingsley talk.

_We'll have the days we break  
>And we'll have the scars to prove it<br>We'll have the bombs that we save  
>But we'll have the heart not to lose it<em>

"He's right you know."

_For all of the things we've stopped  
>For all of the things we're not<em>

Harry looked down to see Ginny looking at him with a thoughtful expression.

She reached up and wiped the tear from his cheek that had fallen while George was talking. "Although he probably could've been a bit nicer about it," she said softly.

"He's grieving, I get it," Harry sighed, looking at the stone memorial that was being placed at the front of the ceremony while Kingsley said his closing statement.

"You're allowed to grieve too you know."

"Am I? I've never had time to do it before."

"Might as well make up for lost time now, huh?"

_We put one foot right in front of the other  
>We move like we ain't got no other<br>We go where we wanna go  
>We're marching on<br>Marching on_

"Yeah," Harry said smiling softly as everyone around them stood up to go look at the stone memorial.

"Something like that."

Ginny stood up and took Harry's hand to pull him to his feet. Hand in hand they walked to the memorial. When they got the front of the line, Harry knelt down and looked at all the names that meant something to him: _Fred Weasley, Remus J. Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin, Colin Creevey,_ and _Severus Snape._

It still hurt to see their names, etched there in stone, a permanent reminder of what Harry, and everyone else, had lost because of the evil that had taken place on these grounds just four days ago. _Doesn't feel like four days,_ Harry thought sadly, _felt like a lifetime ago._

He got up to move out of the others way, and started walking towards Hogwarts with Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione. They were all quiet, except for the occasional sniff.

And as he walked, he couldn't help but think about the man who had spoken before Kingsley's words. _"They were going to fight for the future they deserve, and if they die in the process, they died for their friends, and their siblings, and they died so that the children of the future could get the future that they never had the pleasure of experiencing themselves."_ Isn't that exactly what he was doing? Fighting for a future where he and his friends and family could live in peace, without the threat of Voldemort hanging over their heads all the time? He was fighting so he could be with Ginny, have his own family, grow old, and die a peaceful death, not by murder?

_There's so many wars we fought  
>There's so many things we're not<br>But with we have, I promise you that  
>We're marching on<br>We're marching on  
>We're marching on<em>

Suddenly it all became clear to him. Yes, that was what he was fighting for. Not to avenge his parents, or Sirius, Cedric, Dumbledore, not anyone. He was fighting for himself, and his own future, just like everyone else. And if he lost his life along the way, it would've been worth it, wouldn't it? He had even told Dumbledore a couple of years ago that if he had to die during the war, so be it, but he'd make sure he'd take Voldemort with him if he could.

_Right, right, right, left_  
><em>Right, right, right, left<br>Right, right, right, left  
>We're marching on<em>

As he walked into the Great Hall and sat down at one of the long tables, he looked around at all the faces of the people he loved, he realized, that even though the battle may not be_ completely_ over, that even though it will take a long time to get over all the pain of losing so many people he loved, and even though he may never _truly_ be able to say that he doesn't blame himself for everything that happened, he would still be alright. He knew that somehow, they'd keep marching on.

_Right, right, right, left_  
><em>Right, right, right, left<br>Right, right, right, left_  
><em>We're Marching On<em>


End file.
